Welt applying machine



Ma rch17,1942. F L, AYERS 2,276,450

WELT APPLYING MACHINE Filed Aug. 3, 1940 body of the upper materials.

Patented Mar. 17, 1942 WELT. APPLYING MACHINE FredL. Ayers, Watertown, Mass, assignor of onehalf to Newton Elkin, Philadelphia, Pa.

Application August 3, 1940, Serial No. 350,493

lil Claims.

This invention relates to a machine for use in applying welts to shoes and is herein illustrated and described as embodied in a machine for applying weltsto shoes of the type which has on the bottom margin of the upper an outturned flange for use in attaching the sole.

According to an improved method of making shoes, of this type, a narrow abbreviated flange or lip is provided which is tapered with its outer surface disposed at an angle to the shoe bottom. To this angular surface a coat of cement is applied. A coat of cement is also applied to the beveled edge of a welt strip, and with the shoe and welt so coated the welt isatt'ached by pressing its beveled edge against the angular outer surface of the flangeonthe shoe.

It is an object of the present invention to enable these two parts to be assembled in proper relation to one another with the edge of the Welt entering the crease between the flange and the It is a further object to provide means for applying pressure to cause the two parts to be adhesively secured to one another.

With these objects in view, the invention contemplates a pair of co-operating pressure applying rolls arranged in such positions relative to one another that they may engage the surface of the welt and the under side of the flange to press the two parts together, this operation being facilitated by mounting one of therolls for rotation about an axis normally disposed at an angle to the axis of the other roll. Further features of the invention reside in the provision of means for guiding the welt into position between the rollsand means for preventing lateral movement of the welt away from the shoe when it is in position to be pressed against the flange.

The invention will be better understood when considered with relation to the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. l is a side elevation partly in section of a machine embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the machine of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged view of the rolls operating to apply a welt to a. shoe; and

Fig. 4 is a detailed View of the upper-roll and the associated welt guide.

As shown in Fig. 1, the machine comprises a frame or base I!) in which a driven shaft I2 is journaled. A roll I4 is secured to the outer end of this shaft by a screw IS, the periphery of the roll l4 being knurled to provide a better gripping surface. The frame is bored. height-wise to receive the hollow stem [8 of acarrier 20-for an upper roll 38. This carrier is urged'downwardly by a spring 22 surroundinga bolt 24' which passes through the center ofthe stem l8; The lower end of the spring-bears against the end of the stem l8 and at its upper endthe spring engages a sleeve fifi surrounding the bolt 24, the compression of the spring being variable through a nut 28 threaded onto the upper end of the bolt. To prevent rotation of the roll carrier 20 relative to the base Ill, a pin 36 is secured to the carrier by a setscrew 32-, its lower end extending downwardly through a bore 341m the frame. For separating 'the rolls in order to insert the work therebetween, a lever 35 (Fig. 2) is provided the end of which bears against the lower end of the stem l8. Operation of this lever by means of a treadle (not shown) moves the stem l8 upwardly thus lifting the roll 38.

The machine is particularly'suitedtooperate upon shoes'of the character illustrated in Fig. 3; In the manufacture of such shoes, a flange F is formed by thread lasting upper materials to a middle sole M of canvas or similar material. This flange is then trimmed oil at an angle and a coat of cement is! applied to the outer surface thereof. The welting W is provided with a beveled. surface which is adapted to be pressed against the flange and thus to be adhesively. secured thereto. Inorder that the upper roll. may engage the welting close to the welt, crease r gardless of the heightwise curvature of the sides of the shoes, the outer end of the roll carrier 28 is beveled and on this angular surface a boss 36 is formed to serve as a bearing for the upper roll 38 which is retained in place by a screw 4i]. This roll is provided with an outwardly flared frustoconical outer end '42 substantially coextensive axially with the surface of the lower roll. l4, and an inner flange 46, the two being joined by a narrow cylindrical section 44. The inner beveled edge face 41 of the flange, and the peripheral surface of the frusto-conical portion i2 are substantially parallel to the knurled surface of the lower roll it, while the face '48 of the flange which is toward the outer end of the roll is substantially perpendicular to the 'frusto-conical portion 42. The face 48 thus provides a bearing surface for the square edge of the welt and prevents it from moving laterally away from. the shoe when being applied.

In order to, guide the welting into proper position to be pressed into engagement with the flange F of a shoe S, a welt guide 50 is provided.

This. Welt guide is secured. by screws 52. to theroll carrier 26 and is so arranged that it covers the rearward side of the upper roll, that is, the side from which the work enters. Thewelt guide and the roll thus form an enclosed space through which the welt is guided into position between the two rolls. It will be noted that, as shown in Fig. 4, the upper end 3 of the welt guide is spaced a slightly greater distance from the roll than is the lower end 55, there being at this latter point just enough clearance between the roll and the guide so that the welting may pass therebetween. The welting is thus brought to exactly the proper position when it reaches thepoint at which it is to be applied to the shoe.

In using the machine to operate on such shoes, the welting, with its cement-coated beveled edge outermost, is fed between the welt guide 5%! and the upper roll 38. The rolls are then separated and the shoe S, held right side up with its bottom at a slight angle to the axis of the bottom roll [4, is presented to the machine with its flange F inserted between the two rolls. When the lever 35 is released and the spring 22 urges the two rolls together, the beveled edge of the welt W will thus be pressed against the outer angular surface of the flange F. It will be appreciated that in order to prevent the two beveled surfaces of the shoe and the welt from slipping relative to one another when they are under pressure, the shoe must be held tightly against the upper roll with the larger peripheral edge of the frusto-conical section 42 well into the welt crease so that this edge acts as a positioning means for the shoe. Lateral movement of the Welt away from the shoe is prevented by the inner face 43 of the flange 45 against which the edge of the welt bears. It may be noted'here that, by mounting the upper roll on an axis at an angle to the lower roll, the end face of the upper roll 38 is tilted away from the shoe and thus the outer edge of the frusto-conical portion of the roll can reach all the way into the welt crease in a manner which would not be possible were the two rolls mounted on parallel axes. After the entire periphery of the shoe, or such portion thereof as may be desired, has been carried past the operating point of the machine by the lower feed roll, the lever 58 is operated to separate the rolls, the shoe is removed, the welt cut off, and the shoe is then ready for the operations necessary to complete it.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A machine for applying a welt to a shoe of the character described comprising a roll having a frusto-conical surface for gripping one side of the work, the larger peripheral edge of said roll being outwardly disposed and adapted to enter the welt crease of a shoe, a roll having a surface co-operable with the frusto-conical surface of said first named roll to engage the other side of the work, means urging one of said rolls toward the other to press the work therebetween, and means for driving one of saidroll to feed the work while so pressed.

2. A machine for applying a welt to a shoe of the character described comprising a supporting roll, a pressure roll having a frusto-conical s1 face for gripping the work at a point on the roll where said surface is substantially parallel to the surface of said supporting roll, the larger peripheral edge of said pressure roll being outwardly disposed and adapted to enter the welt crease of the shoe, and means for driving one of said rolls to feed the work.

3. A machine for applying a welt to a shoe of the character described comprising an underlying driven roll for supporting and feeding the work, and a pressure roll having a frusto-conical surface for engaging the work at a point on the roll where said surface is substantially parallel to the supporting surface of said driven roll, the largerperipheral edge of said pressure roll being outwardly disposed and adapted to enter the welt crease of the shoe.

4. In a machine for applying a welt to a shoe of the character described, a pair of co-operating rolls constructed and arranged to press a welt against the flange of the shoe, one of said rolls being rotatable about an axis disposed at an angle to the axis of the other of said rolls, and means partially encircling the periphery of one of the rolls-for guiding the welt between said rolls into position to be adhesively secur'ed'to said shoe. 1

5. In a machine for app ying a welt to a shoe of the character described, a pair of co-operating rolls constructed and arranged to press a welt against the outturned flange of a shoe, one of said rolls being rotatable about an axis disposed at an angle to the axis of the other roll and the angle between an end face and a peripheral surface of one roll being less than ninety degrees whereby said roll may engage the Welt in the Welt crease of the shoe and serve as a gage to position the shoe.

6. In a machine for applying a welt to a shoe of the character described, a pair of co-operating rolls constructed and arranged to press a welt against the flange of the shoe, one of said rolls being rotatable about an axis disposed at an angle to the axis of the other roll, andmeans integral with the periphery of said roll for supporting the welt against lateral movement away from the shoe.

7. In a machine for applying a welt to a shoe of the character described, a pair of co-operating rolls constructed and arranged to press a Welt against the flange of. the shoe, one of said rolls being rotatable about an am's disposed at an angle to the axis of the other roll, and a curved member adjacent to one roll and having a recess therein whereby the welt may be guided between the member and the roll into position to be pressed against the flange of the shoe.

8. In a machine for applying a welt to a shoe of the character described, a pair of co-operating rolls constructed and arranged to press a welt against the flange of a shoe, one of said rolls having a frusto-conical portion the larger peripheral edge of said portion being formed and arranged to enter the welt crease and position the shoe and having a flange at its small inner end, the inner face of said flange being approximately perpendicular to the peripheral surface of' said roll and serving as a gage for positioning. the welt laterally in relation to the shoe. Y

9. In a machine for applying a welt to a shoe of the character described, a pair of co-operating rolls for pressing a welt against the flange of a shoe, one of said rolls being rotatable about an axis disposed at an angle to the axis of the other of said rolls with their end' faces lying in obtuse planes thereby to permit insertion of the flange between the rolls without interference by the body of the shoe, the peripheral surfaces of said rolls being substantially parallel at their points of closest proximity to one another.

10. In a machine for applying a welt to a shoe guiding a Welt between said rolls in position to of the character described, a pair of co-operating be adhesively secured thereto, and. means interolls constructed and arranged to press a welt gral with said last-named roll for supporting the against the flange of a shoe, one of said rolls bewelt against lateral movement away from the ing rotatable about an axis disposed at an angle 5 shoe. to the axis of the other roll, means spaced from FRED L. AYERS. and partially encircling one of said rolls for 

